Set and Costume Design
The Village Set and Costume Design A 2004 American fantasy horror film, The Village, written, produced, and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. According to several sources Villagehttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368447/ remained in the top ratings for two years. The movie analyzes a group of townspeople living in fear of creatures inhabiting the woods beyond their village. The director illustrates several aspects of film, such as, architecture and costumes to portray the suspensehttp://www.philfilms.utm.edu/1/Village.htm and overall feeling of the film. The character's costumes and the setting play a specific role in building the suspensehttp://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/village/, helping the audience get interested film, and aiding the audience by helping them understand the film. The setting plays a significant role in this film because it is not "of our time." The entire film takes place in the end of the centuryhttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368447/synopsis. The irony is that the villagers are trapped in this village that mimicks the villages of the eighteenth century. The villagers mannerisms, morals, and life style choices are old fashioned and strict. Instead of being up to date on technology and architecture, the villagers live in old houses, wear old-fashioned clothing, and refuse to consider using new medicines. The only major building in the town is an old church. There is no hospital, doctors office, dentist office, ect. The village is surrounded by woods, which the villagers do not enter into because it is believed to be dangerous and crawling with monsters. The movie was filmed in a field outside Chadds Ford, Pennsylvaniahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Village_(2004_film). The set took several months to put together but eventually the look that the director wanted was achieved. There was not much of a color scheme, but the director and set coordinator wanted a lack of color on purpose, because they wanted the village to be as dull and boring as possible. The production started filming on October of 2004, but there was a handful of days that shooting had to be postponed due to the weather. The setting throughout this movie stays unchanging until Ivy gets to the towns outside of the village. After passing the woods she enters the town and the colors brighten up and immediately the viewer sees a more colorful and happier setting. Ann Roth, The Village costume designer, was an old woman who had an eye for the looks of the older days. Though the color and costume palate for this film did not progress past about 6 colors, the impact that the colors have on the film is significant because of the brown, grey,and neutral colorshttp://crystal-cure.com/gray.html that are used in the film and the symbolism that they represent. The color of sorrow is predominate. For example, a person wearing gray represents a lone wolf characteristic and white symbolizes innocence. The costume used for the monsters, known by the villagers as "ones we don't speak of", took several sketches and inventions to come up with. The final piece of work included a cloak that is draped in a solid red color, which is the color that supposedly draws the creatures towards the village. Because the creatures are attracted to the color red, the villagers never wear the color and attempt to conceal the all the red colors in the town. The color yellow represents safety and security, which is why the villagers wear yellow cloaks whenever they gaurd the village border or enter the frightening woods. Costumes play a significant role in the film by symbolizing characters personalities and the mood of the village. Work Cited "The Village." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2013. "The Village (2004)." The Village. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2013. "The Village: An Analysis." ''- Jeff Werner''. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2013. "The Village (Philosophical Films)." The Village (Philosophical Films). N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2013. "The Village (2004 Film)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Jan. 2013. Web. 25 Jan. 2013.